Setting Her Sights On Him
by briefbeauty
Summary: All James Olsen knew was that he had to get out of there as fast as he could...


_Supergirl_ doesn't belong to me

 **Setting Her Sights On Him**

"Have you ever met her?"

James Olsen turned, more startled by the woman who was asking question than the question itself.

"Who?"

"Supergirl, of course," Lena Luthor replied.

They were attending a party; a party James had tried so hard to get out of but he'd be forced to attend because it wasn't about him after all, it was about CATCO and its position as the leading media group in National City.

He had seen Lena Luthor arrive about fifteen minutes ago, immaculately dressed as usual in a black suit; he had mingled as much as he could and had found himself a spot near the back. He intended to leave as soon as he was done with his drink. Lacy, from the City Beat, was there covering the story and he knew he would catch up with anything he'd missed from the news. He doubted he'd miss much by leaving early.

He noticed Lena's look and remembered that he hadn't answered her question. "I have," he told her.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this," Lena said, "but she saved my life, again, the other day."

"She tends to that."

James wondered why Lena Luthor was choosing to talk to him surely there were more important and impressive people in the room.

"I hate these sorts of functions, don t you?"

"I can't say that I've attended many of them," he admitted.

"It seems to me that I've spent most of my life at such functions as these," she said. "And let me tell you a secret; they never get any better."

"So you decided to entertain yourself by talking to me?"

"You're more interesting than half the people here."

"Which half?" James found himself asking. "The rich and powerful half or the overeducated and pompous half?"

Lena burst out laughing. "Is that how you see them?"

"Honestly," he shrugged, "I just said the first thing that came to my mind."

"James Olsen," she said to him, "I'm so glad I decided to talk to you tonight."

He tipped his glass to her.

"Where's your date?" she asked him, "don't tell me you came all by yourself."

"You didn't bring a date with you either," he pointed out.

"I don't like to mix business with pleasure," she replied, "besides I have a company to run and the Luthor name to salvage."

He nodded. "You have your work cut out for you."

"So do you."

"Unlike you the company I run doesn't bear my name," he replied.

"Don't kid yourself," she smiled at him, "that just makes it harder not easier. You're judged at a much higher standard than we are."

"Don't I know it!" He'd had three board meetings in the past week alone and some of the members were unhappy with the way things were being run, and he'd been reminded more than once that he was no Cat Grant.

"So if you don't mind my asking," James said, "how is it going, trying to salvage the Luthor name?"

"It would be better," Lena admitted, "if Mother wasn't bent on killing people."

"You see her much since she escaped?"

"Is this an interview?"

"No," James shook his head, "I just can't imagine how you manage to deal with all that."

"It would be easier if the press didn't paint me with the same brush as the rest of my family."

"Lena," he told her, "she's your mother and Lex Luthor is your brother."

Lena nodded. "You're from Metropolis and Superman's friend, so of course you know all about Lex and his misdeeds."

"I do."

"I just moved here to get out from under his shadow," she said, "start a new life for myself, just like you did."

"Touché."

"What I meant is that it would be nice to walk around without everyone having made up their mind about me already," she said.

"So I guess I now know why you decided to talk to me tonight," he said.

"It wasn't that," she said, "not entirely, I mean I would like you and the company you represent to have a better opinion of me, obviously, but I also wanted to get to know you better."

"Really?"

"Like I said, I'm trying to start a new life here and it would be better if I had some new friends as well."

"There're lots of people in National City."

"I suspect there's a lot more to you than meets the eye," Lena told him.

"I believe that's true of most people," he countered.

"No," she shook her, "it's true of less people than you think. With most of us what you see is what you get."

"So you're saying that you're an open book, is that it?"

"I'd like to think so, yes."

"And I'm not?"

"James Olsen, you were a photojournalist, an editor and now you run a whole company," she told him.

"I'm just a hardworking guy," he said.

"Who somehow managed to get the first picture of Superman and Supergirl? And got Cat Grant to leave you in charge of her baby?"

"So, we're back to that, are we?"

"I know I don't want to sound like such a fan," Lena admitted with a laugh, "but how did you do it?"

"Right place right time, I guess," James replied, "and a whole lot of luck."

"So I was right, wasn't I?"

"About what?"

"You're like this unassuming guy, but deep down you're not," she said, "you have something that draws powerful people to you."

"Stop," James laughed uneasily.

"I don't know what makes you tick, James Olsen," Lena smiled at him, "but I'm going to find out."

"There's nothing to find out."

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were an alien yourself," Lena told him, "but I know that you're as human as I am."

"Of course I'm human," he said.

"I know," her smile broadened, "which makes this even so much better."

James was about to reply when Lena's phone rang and she turned to answer it. He took one last gulp and gave his glass to a passing waiter. He needed some air…he needed to put as much distance between himself and Lena Luthor as he could.

000


End file.
